How Were Old Testaments Saints Saved?

Have you ever wondered how the saints of the Old Testament were saved? As Christians on this side of eternity, believers alive during the time after Christ's salvific work on the cross has been completed, we know that we are saved under the covenant of grace. 

However, Old Testament saints were saved under the covenant of works. Think back to Genesis 1-3. God makes a covenant with Adam and Eve to not eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Gen 2:16-17). As part of the covenant, God let Adam and Eve know that if you partake in the fruit "you will surely die." So, these are clear elements of a covenant in Scripture, even though in these early chapters of Genesis, the word covenant is not used. Later we see covenants being made with Noah (the flood, survival of his family, and never to flood the earth again), Abraham (descendants to outnumber the stars), Moses (Levitical-Deuteronomic law), and David (the messiah will come from his lineage). After Mosaic law was established the chosen people had even more laws and rituals to follow to remain clean and holy. This, of course, was a vicious cycle.

Jesus of Nazareth, however, the God-man himself, was sinless because he was fully God and fully man. He never once sinned or was in a state of sin, but he was also fully human while living among us. So being a perfect human, and being fully God, Christ made propitiation for our sins, through his death on the cross and resurrection. We are saved, no longer by works, but by grace through faith, which is not of anything that we have done, but is the gift of God (Eph 2:8 [author's paraphrase]).


This is compatible with the concept of natural revelation, as Paul writes,

For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened (Rom 1:19-21). 

In short, the OT saints were saved under the covenant of works. As an aside, however, the Apostle Paul does in fact reference Abraham's faith which was credited to him as righteousness (Rom 4:1-3). We also have an interesting case study for this. Enter Melchizedek, the priest-king, who was not an Israelite but seems to have been a prophet of the Lord and in good standing with the Lord, but he is a rather mysterious figure indeed, who is referenced in Scripture a few times. This does not negate what we have talked about to this point but point to something deeper going on in a couple of specific cases in salvation history that require much thought from us as we develop our thinking around how we are saved and why it matters how the OT saints were saved.

Thank you all for reading! Feel free to throw any comments or questions you may have below. 

Go in grace and peace,

Ethan



Theology: What it is and Why it Matters

What is theology?

Why are there different types of theologies? And what are they?

As you, the reader, are acutely aware by now, the title of this site is “Your Friendly Neighborhood Theologian.” Three out of four of those words are familiar and common speak in modern English, but that final word is not. It is about time I provide a little context for the word, “Theologian.” Both of my degrees are in the discipline of “theology.” On a basic level, theology is the study or science of God. The term comes from two Greek words: theos meaning God, and logos meaning word or idea. “-ology” is of course a common suffix in English denoting a science, such as biology, anthropology, zoology, etc. 

Nowadays, to find an institution with a school, college, or department of theology, is a rarity. In the medieval times, theology was called the queen of the sciences, for all the sciences were passionate pursuits to learn about and discover the world God created and in doing so, discovering more about God. Some say, “Oh so it’s the study of religion.” But to say so would be incorrect. Religion technically falls under sociology (or anthropology, depending on the institution), which studies the phenomena of human society, practices, structures, etc.

That’s the catch – do you see the difference? “Religious studies” as a discipline is more about human behavior than it is God. C.S. Lewis, author of the ever-popular Chronicles of Narnia book series, in his piece, “Meditations in a Toolshed” described this difference quite well. Lewis describes walking into an old shed one day and noticing a beam of light shining through a hold in the ceiling. He admired the beam for its radiance, the way it lit the shed, how it allowed him to see particulates floating around. Simply put, it was nice to contemplate. He called this looking upon the light. But then, he stepped into the beam of light and looked along it. In doing so the green leaves of the tree growing over the shed were revealed, along with the blue of the sky, and the feeling of the warmth of the beam that now surrounded him. He discovered, that looking upon the light was much different than looking along the light. In other words, theology is best understood from within. When merely looked upon, it become merely the observation of homo sapiens talking to themselves, placebos, and so on. The task of theology (“theologizing”), on the other hand, is about knowing God. The pursuit of this task is not simply for the sake of pure knowledge, but rather, it is to love God. 

Proper theology, then, is done with this goal in mind. I love what the late J. I. Packer used to tell his students about the purpose of theology. It is, “for doxology and devotion – that is, the praise of God and the practice of godliness… Theology is at its healthiest when it is consciously under the eye of the God of whom it speaks, and when it is singing his glory.” Along these lines, our theology goes bad when we approach it to only prop ourselves up. Theological knowledge itself is not the ends of our studies, contemplation, and meditation on Scripture from which all theological truth is derived. Theology allows us to not just observe what Scripture says but understand what Scripture means. In Packer’s other titular work, Knowing God, he says, “to approach Bible study, with no higher a motive than a desire to know all the answers, is the direct route to a state of self-satisfied self-deception. We need to guard our hearts against such an attitude, and pray to be kept from it.”

So we approach theology with humility – this is good! The more I have studied theology, the more I realize how little I know. One theologian described theology as a pool with depth enough for an elephant to swim in, but also appropriate for an infant to play in. It is appropriate to study theology in all ages of life. You’ll never arrive when you study theology – some depths, you simply will not be able to mine. That is where we must abound with humility and trust. Our God is as great as he is good. That in itself is a discipline to maintain. 

This has been a short orientation on theology. There would be so much more to say, and I plan to say more as we go and plumb the depths of theology on this blog. For now, I leave you with some words from Charles Haddon Spurgeon, from his January 7, 1855, sermon, “The Immutability of God” (fun fact, he was only 20 years old when he delivered this sermon!). Let these words inspire you:

It has been said that “the proper study of mankind is man.” I believe it is equally true that the proper study of God’s elect is God; the proper study of a Christian is the Godhead. The highest science, the loftiest speculation, the mightiest philosophy, which can ever engage the attention of a child of God, is the name, the nature, the person, the work, the doings, and the existence of the great God whom he calls his Father.

There is something exceedingly improving to the mind in a contemplation of the Divinity. It is a subject so vast, that all our thoughts are lost in its immensity; so deep, that our pride is drowned in its infinity. Other subjects we can grapple with; in them we feel a kind of self-content, and go our way with the thought, “Behold I am wise.” But when we come to this master science, finding that our plumbline cannot sound its depth, and that our eagle eye cannot see its height, we turn away with the thought that vain man would be wise, but he is like a wild ass’s colt; and with solemn exclamation, “I am but of yesterday, and know nothing.” No subject of contemplation will tend more to humble the mind, than thoughts of God....

But while the subject humbles the mind, it also expands it. He who often thinks of God, will have a larger mind than the man who simply plods around this narrow globe.... The most excellent study for expanding the soul, is the science of Christ, and Him crucified, and the knowledge of the Godhead in the glorious Trinity. Nothing will so enlarge the intellect, nothing so magnify the whole soul of man, as a devout, earnest, continued investigation of the great subject of the Deity.

And, while humbling and expanding, this subject is eminently consolatory. Oh, there is, in contemplating Christ, a balm for every wound; in musing on the Father, there is a quietus for every grief; and in the influence of the Holy Ghost, there is a balsam for every sore.

Would you lose your sorrow? Would you drown your cares? Then go, plunge yourself in the Godhead’s deepest sea; be lost in his immensity; and you shall come forth as from a couch of rest, refreshed and invigorated. I know nothing which can so comfort the soul; so calm the swelling billows of sorrow and grief; so speak peace to the winds of trial, as a devout musing upon the subject of the Godhead.

It is to that subject that I invite you this morning.

Go in grace and peace!

YFNT - Ethan

Gleanings on Joy

“Well done, good and faithful servant... enter into the joy of your master” (Matt 25:21).

“God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions” (Heb 1:9).

At some point in life, we may all find ourselves joyless. During this time, it seems that we also are unable to remember what joy even felt like when we experienced it. I, too, have gone through tough, joyless seasons. In the midst of those seasons, I wondered, “Have I ever known what joy was like?” I can recall waking up when I was a little boy, on Christmas morning and being so excited to see what gifts I got. My brother and I would look in awe at our stockings being so full that they were laid on the ground! But this was not joy. This was excitedness or happiness. Now we’ve reached an impasse. What then, is the difference between happiness and joy?

I started to find this out when I was a freshman in college. I had roommates who were very different than me, and I got along with them... most of the time. But during this transitionary time in my life, I found myself becoming irritable, and annoyed at every little thing, and just downright angry.

The combination is dangerous because it led me to resent almost everything my roommates did – and worse – led me to resent my roommates. Resentment, it most similar to what Jesus said about anger and murder, thus likening resentment to sin. When you resent people, you want nothing good for them, and thoughts of petty revenge tend to circulate in your mind. Maybe that’s just me – but I doubt it. We cannot honor Jesus’ command to love our neighbor, when we resent them.

Nonetheless, during this season, I had to find joy. I needed it. I craved it, even though I had not known it, truly. The Lord took me on a journey that year. He brought different voices, different people into my life to teach me more about joy. I found that joy is not at all like happiness. Happiness is temporal, but joy is eternal. Joy is like an ultimate satisfaction in life, in the life that the Lord has given you. Joy, leads to flourishing in life, which is what God wants for each of us. Joy is part of your lifestyle, and mindset. It came about for me in this way:

Joy is a realization of my powerlessness, and God’s powerfulness.

This is not cliché, or meant to be discouraging or make us feel like we have a loss of independence. The Joy that I experience comes from realizing that God’s grace has given me an eternal second chance to live life the way he wants me to. This grace leads me to an optimistic disposition, a sense of empowerment, that is not my own, but it is given to me to be exercised and to spur me on to live well for Christ. This is one angle of joy for me. Joy is not happiness. Seeing puppies makes us happy. Eating a good meal makes us happy. Giving and receiving good hugs make us happy. Having family to love and to be loved by makes us happy. But joy is God’s. Joy is God’s to give, and can only be found in Christ. His joy is what enabled and continues to enable our joy.

John Piper in his book, Seeing and Savoring Jesus Christ, offers such an encouraging and refreshing take on joy for me, “But the glory and grace of Jesus is that he is, and always will be, indestructibly happy.” Hmm, at first we become skeptical of this because is sounds so simple.

But it’s true! Let’s think about this some more. Jesus himself-and all that God is for us in him-is our great reward, nothing less. ‘I am the bread of life... If anyone thirsts, let him come to me’ (John 6:35; 7:37) Salvation is not mainly the forgiveness of sins, but mainly the fellowship of Jesus (1 Cor 1:9).

Forgiveness gets everything out of the way so this can happen. If this fellowship is not all satisfying, there is no great salvation. If Christ is gloomy or even calmly stoical, eternity will be a long, long sigh. (Loc 220).

Why is it that in our theological studies, or in the sermons we hear or the church services we attend, we are told to be joyful... just because? Why should I be joyful? When I hear that, I sounds like it’s a way to live better, but I like to understand concepts before I can integrate them into my life. So let’s attempt that very thing.

We ought to be joyful, because. Christ is joyful. Has anyone ever spoken to you about the joy of Christ? I have had no such experience. This is profoundly relevant to us, because the more we study Jesus, the more we find out that he came to show us how he – the Word at the beginning, through whom nothing was made that has been made (John 1:3), the Ancient of Days (Daniel 7:9, 13), Creator – intended humanity to live. Jesus even says, “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete” (John 15:11). We cannot have joy without Christ.

Furthermore when Jesus prayed for his disciples he said, “I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them” (John 17:13). In Jesus, then, is completed joy. Fulfilled and eternal satisfaction. This is joy.

Piper continues,

It would not be fully gracious of Jesus simply to increase my joy to its final limit and

then leave me short of his. My capacities for joy are very confined. So Christ not only

offers himself as thee divine object of my joy, but pours his capacity for joy into me, so

that I can enjoy him with the very joy of God. This is glory, and this is grace (loc. 226).

“God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions” (Heb 1:9). In Hebrews 1:8-9 God [the Father] speaks to the Son, not to the angels, with these astonishing words: “Your thrown O God, is forever and ever... You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions.” Jesus Christ is the happiness being in the universe. His gladness is greater than all the angelic gladness of heaven. He mirrors perfectly the infinite, holy, indomitable mirth of his Father. Piper again,

...Peter [in Acts 2:25-31] interprets Psalm 16 to refer to Christ: “I saw the Lord always

before me, for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken; therefore my heart was

glad, and my tongue rejoiced... For you will not abandon my soul to Hades, or let your

Holy One see corruption... you will make me full of gladness with your presence.

The risen Christ will shake off the shades of death and be glad with the very gladness of God. The glory of Christ is his infinite, eternal, indestructible gladness in the presence of God. Joy is not from us; we cannot manufacture or even fake joy. Joy is of God. Joy is of Christ. Joy is of His Holy Spirit. We do not know joy until we have known His grace.

These have been some gleanings on joy.

Let us pray:

Dear Lord,

We pray that you would help us to find insatiable and eternal joy in you. Let us know you, and

your grace. Let us recognize what you want to change in us. Let us recognize how much we need

you, because once we realize this, we have submitted fully to your will. We need you, Jesus.

Holy Spirit please dwell within us, transform us daily, hourly, by the second to be more like

Christ. Show us you joy. We recognize that your joy is not from earth, it is not from us, it is not

from others. Pour your joy into us, satisfy us like only you can, and make our joy complete, as

you promised to us in your Word. I love you Lord.

Amen.